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Maybe you tried it, canapé style, a few weeks ago at the inaugural MexFest gala at the Scotiabank Theatre after watching monarch butterflies migrate from Canada to Mexico in Flight of the Butterflies?

No? Go to Fonda Lola on Queen St. W. and order it (with a glass of smoked horchata). Do-it-yourselfers, make it at home with thanks to the Mexican bistro for sharing its secrets.

Whatever route you choose, enjoy this “fun riff” on a classic.

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“The Caesar salad was a Tijuana invention, which most people don’t know, and which is why we love having it on the menu,” Fonda Lola’s co-owner and chef Howard Dubrovsky tells me during the MexFest gala. (It was invented 90 years ago by the late Caesar Cardini, an Italian chef who ran Hotel Caesar’s restaurant in Tijuana.)

“We like food to have a sense of familiar, but still have a part where you can experience something new — where you can have fun with it.”

“A lot of people think that Mexican is heavy, cheesy, creamy and fattening,” laments Rodriguez. “We definitely don’t have that menu in Mexico.”

Do people still think that Tex-Mex is Mexican? They shouldn’t, given the collection of real Mexican restaurants we now have. MexFest, organized by the Mexican-Canadian Cultural Council, ran a week-long Mexilicious at 10 of them.

Fonda Lola was one of them. Star restaurant critic Amy Pataki praised Fonda Lola’s “lighter, healthier Mexican” in a February review, calling it “one of Toronto’s best Mexican dining experiences.”

At the MexFest gala, Fonda Lola picked the four canapés to reflect “a very broad sense of the flavour palette” in Mexico.

They also served three margaritas — classic, prickly pear garnished with finger limes FedExed in from California weekly, and one with kombucha and smoked horchata.

Finger limes are a micro-citrus filled with tiny pearls, or as Marquez so vividly puts it, “citrus caviar.” He squeezes the lime caviar on to my finger for a taste, and then into my drink “so that every time you sip that drink you have that explosion of flavours.”

Fun. But I ask for a glass of Fonda Lola’s smoked horchata, hold the margarita.

This horchata starts out ordinary, with soaked rice that’s boiled, flavoured with maple and cinnamon, and diluted.

It’s impossible to give perfect proportions for this recipe. Tweak the mousse to your taste by varying the lemon/garlic/salt levels. Boston lettuce leaves vary in size so some will take a little dressed romaine, and others will take more. I’ve also added instructions to turn this into a conventional salad. If you do that, feel free to add green leaf lettuce to the romaine instead of Boston — or even just stick with romaine.

Transfer bacon to wire rack set over paper towels to cool to room temperature. Break each piece of bacon into several smaller chunks. (To make ahead: refrigerate in sealed container up to 2 days.)

For mousse, place garlic in food processor. Pulse until garlic is minced. Add avocados, cheese, oil and juice of 2 lemons. Process 2 minutes. Taste; season with salt and pepper. Add juice of remaining lemon if desired. If making ahead, transfer to bowl, press plastic directly on surface to prevent discoloration, and refrigerate up to 2 days, stirring before using.

For salad, place romaine in large bowl. Add 1/2 cup (125 mL) avocado mousse, or to taste. Toss well. (Save remaining mousse for another use.)

To assemble, place portion dressed romaine in centre of each Boston lettuce leaf (leaves will vary in size). Top with 2 candied bacon chunks and 2 parmesan shavings (made using cheese slicer or carrot peeler), or to taste.

Place leaves on platter. To eat, pick up by hand, fold into a bite-size package as desired and pop in your mouth.

Alternately, to turn this into a traditional salad, shred Boston lettuce and toss with shredded romaine. Dress with avocado mousse to taste. Place in salad bowl. Break bacon chunks into small pieces and scatter on salad. Garnish with grated or shaved parmesan to taste. Toss well before serving.

Makes about 8 side servings.

Follow @thesaucylady on Twitter. Jennifer Bain's book, The Toronto Star Cookbook: More Than 150 Diverse & Delicious Recipes Celebrating Ontario, is sold at starstore.ca and in bookstores.

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